Final Fantasy XIV Online (don't call it Final Fantasy XI-2)

Square Enix announced the next entry in the neverending story that is Final Fantasy: Final Fantasy XIV. It comes after XIII and before XV, naturally. But this one, like XI, will be online. It's coming to the PS3 and PC in 2010, and yes, it's in the hands of the pros. Hiromichi Tanaka and Nobuaki Komoto (both from Final Fantasy XI and others in the series) take Producer and Director credits, respectively. Akihiko Yoshida (of Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy XII fame) heads up the art department. And of course Nobuo Uematsu -- who will fall on hissword before he works outside of the Square Enix family -- will be on the musical conductor's stand.

These screenshots (14 screens for Final Fantasy XIV? Gasp!) are all cinematic stills from the debut video. Final Fantasy XI fans will notice some very familiar races at play here; the only limb we're going out on is one that's perhaps pushing the Japanese steampunk aesthetic just a little further. It takes place in the vast realm of Eorzea, which is apparently the Japanese word for "Niagara Falls."